DAVID NGOG might prove in time that he can master the art of being a centre-forward.

It is often a thankless task being asked to assume the role of a lone frontman and even when I was in the prime of my career, there were times when I found it hard going.

But we saw at Arsenal on Wednesday night that, once again, playing Ngog in that position does not really add anything to Liverpool’s team.

Rafa Benitez works with him every day, so he clearly sees things in him, but at the Emirates Stadium Ngog looked like a schoolboy playing in an adult’s match.

One thing you cannot fault him for his effort; he never stopped running or trying his hardest to help the team and, for that, he should be commended.

Unfortunately, though, in contests of great magnitude against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, effort alone is not good enough.

You need to have a clear head and be ruthless when opportunity knocks but, when Steven Gerrard sent him skipping through, Ngog was neither and Liverpool suffered accordingly.

Put it this way – had Fernando Torres been presented with the same chance, you would have invested your mortgage on him scoring; when Ngog was homing in on goal, he never convinced that he would score.

In my opinion, Dirk Kuyt should have started up front at The Emirates because he is vastly experienced and has scored a few goals recently but Rafa likes playing him in that role on the right.

Had the manager been able to invest in the squad during the January transfer window, maybe we would have had somebody with experience to take over from Ngog in Torres’ absence but that wasn’t the case.

Liverpool had a terrific chance to beat Arsenal on Wednesday, as the Gunners were as poor as I have seen them for a long time.

Without that killer instinct, however, things become more difficult. How it showed.

Reds cannot be sidetracked by Europa League

A BLANK weekend might not be a bad thing for Liverpool but a blank midweek would have been even better to prepare for the trip to Manchester City.

But, as it is, Rafa Benitez’s thoughts will be occupied with Unirea Urziceni, our opponents on Thursday night in the last 32 of the Europa League.

If someone could guarantee me now that Liverpool would get to the final, I would, of course, take it and I would relish the chance to seeing Liverpool play in another European Super Cup Final if we won it.

However, the main aim for the season has to be finishing in the top four and that, simply, cannot be jeopardised by getting sidetracked in a competition that does not capture the imagination.

I can honestly say that if we were knocked out early on, I wouldn’t be bothered at all.

We need to qualify for the Champions League as the ramifications of missing out are too bad for us to consider.

* SEEING a seven-match unbeaten run be brought to a halt was a huge disappointment but there were still positives for Liverpool to take from their meeting with Arsenal.

It was clear to see Steven Gerrard get back to top form but the big plus was Javier Mascherano; he has been absolutely brilliant for the last two months and is going from strength to strength.